1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique for exchanging mail among members belonging to a group without passing through the server apparatus using terminal devices such as cellular phones.
2. Description of the Related Art
In accordance with development of recent information communication techniques, e-mail (hereinafter simply referred to as mail) is widely used as a means of communication. The mail is exchanged among members of the group in some cases. The following methods were conventionally used for exchanging mail among the members of the group.
In a first method, a list of group members is registered in a server apparatus on the Internet. Mail sent by any one of the members of the group is transmitted to other members of the group via the server apparatus. In a second method, a list of group members is registered in a terminal device of each member. Each member designates this list to send mail to other members.
In the first method, since the single list of the group members is placed in the server apparatus, mail transmitted by any member can be sent to all members without fail. The server apparatus manages the list of the group members and transmits mail to each member. However, the server apparatus needs neither list nor mail. Since maintenance and management of the server apparatus, which has no direct relation with the members of the group, are performed, each member has to pay a usage charge to use the server apparatus. When maintenance and management expenses are covered by advertising revenue, each member does not have to pay the usage charge. However, advertisement is attached to mail, which is transmitted to each group member, from the server apparatus. Moreover, advertising mails are sent to the members from the server apparatus, sometimes annoying the members.
In the second method, the list of group members is managed by the terminal device of each member of the group. Each member can transmit the mail to other members according to the list managed by his/her own terminal device. Actually, however, since each member has to manage the list manually, he/she sometimes finds the management annoying. When a member neglects to manage the list, his/her list may not be the same as the list managed by other members, especially if a new member joins the group or a member withdraws from the group. This caused problems in which the newly joined member does not receive mail from another member and the member, who already withdrew from the group, still receives mail from other members.